Motivating Your Employees

MOTIVATING YOUR EMPLOYEES

Every human being needs motivation now and then. Incentives and recognition programs can support you in helping your employees become happier and more productive at work. As a leader, one of the main things to think about is how to recognize an employee for a performance that has exceeded expectations, objectives and goals. Therefore, I would like to introduce you in this paper to some ideas that hopefully would promote this method as one of the main priorities in today’s and tomorrow’s workplace.

People want to do more than work as machines; they want to be productive as well as being recognized by others. Following the successful managers handbook, when employees have the opportunity to work with a leader who challenges, inspires and appreciates them, they are more likely to perform above their expectations.

However, there are two different strategies when dealing with this matter that are necessary to identify before implementing these techniques. According to Philip Holmes, “although the two often seem interchangeable, recognition should not be confused with incentives. Recognition involves all the techniques that draw attention to employees who perform. Incentive programs generally use selective techniques to induce people to achieve a specific objective, such as increasing sales. Recognition can be spontaneous, even to the extent that there is no formal announcement that the organization has a recognition program. Incentives are designed to act as carrots, and they're publicized well in advance to whip up enthusiasm for winning a tangible reward”.

Turnover, absenteeism, and low productivity are some of the many reactions that an unmotivated worker might bring to the company. However, leaders that are capable to motivate their workers will have a better chance of minimizing the economical labor problems that we face nowadays.

There are many ways in which companies can encourage and support motivation. Some of those techniques are: Involving employees in decision making, providing feedback, keeping employees informed at all times, building trust and relationships, and much more.

Involving employees in decision making:

People enjoy being included in decisions or situations in life. In the workplace it is essential to hear other people’s thoughts and ideas, in order to have a better outcome. Almost everyone likes to have their ideas heard and implemented in decision making. When managers asks an employee for advice in any given situation, even if is not implemented, it gives you a sense of importance in that person’s life. Also, it makes you feel that your ideas matter, and that you are not just an employee, instead, you are someone I admire enough to help me make an important decision.

Feedback and Recognition:

Employees are happier when they feel that they are rewarded fairly for the work they do. Always acknowledge employee responsibilities, and the effort they put on, and the tasks that they have done well.

According to Sanjay Tailor in her article How To Motivate Employees, Recognition is beneficial from time to time for the employees to hear from their supervisors how they are doing. It doesn't cost a thing to add a personal touch. A job well done deserves a pat on the back - recognition, either alone or in front of the team or other coworkers. Also, it is important to encourage group leaders to acknowledge independent achievement during group meetings as well as complimenting teams for achieving the team goals.

Employees Informed at All times:

The Small Business Administration online database says that maintaining employees informed about changes that can directly affect them such as policy changes, procedure or rule changes, product information changes, and performance changes.

Communicating with employees what you know, even if it might be an area under discussion to change, helps leaders build trust with their employees. On the other hand, retaining information decreases trust levels between management and staff.

Building Trust and Relationships:

Good leader trains, develop, guides,